Confused and conflicted on Willits bypass

I'm honestly confused and conflicted about the whole Willits Bypass resistance. I get the objection to outside centralized government imposing its will and agenda on the people and life forms of the Little Lake Valley. I get the objection to the loss of critical wetlands habitat and mature trees, although, in all honesty, I think Caltrans has done a lot of work to mitigate the impacts on wetlands and sensitive habitat.

What I don't get is the lack of alternatives. It seems like the objectors to the bypass are content with thousands of cars and trucks idling their ways slowly through downtown Willits, sucking up non-renewable fossil fuels and disgorging carcinogenic exhaust and CO2 by the ton. Yes, the bypass will do both during its construction, but there will be a break-even point somewhere in the future on the energy level, and routing all of that through traffic out of the center of town will certainly contribute to the greater health of the people of Willits.

I also get objections on economic grounds, that a bypass will facilitate more people going over the next hill to Ukiah instead of spending their money in Willits. If Cloverdale is any example, the Cloverdale bypass resulted in an emptying of downtown storefronts for several years, until an influx of retirees revived the economy there. One can reasonably expect a similar economic dislocation in Willits after the bypass is complete.

As for the hard core, the tree sitters, I respect their values, and their desire to protect these magnificent mature trees. I know how disgusted I felt, driving south toward Santa Rosa, seeing all the redwood trees Caltrans had cut, redwoods that made that stretch of highway seem less like a Southern California transplant. I also get the romantic notion of "putting your life on the line" for something that important. I am grateful to still have my life and health, having put both on the line many times as a firefighter and in the resource wars of 25-30 years ago, on the side of Indigenous Peoples and the planet.

For myself, I live in Ukiah and have friends and a son in Laytonville. Bucking the slog up Main Street though Willits, or tacking my way through the neighborhoods, seems unreasonable. I'm also looking at retirement in several years, and, if I can afford housing on a teacher's retirement, Willits seems like a good place to settle. The economic dislocation of the bypass might make housing more affordable, for a short window, before Willits regenerates itself as an attractive cultural community, instead of a struggling choke-point on the way north or south. Having rented for the last 20 years, I would really like to live in a house I own, one more time, before I die. Not altruistic reasoning, I admit.

So, like I said, I am conflicted. I am drawn to the motives on both sides. In all honesty, I doubt whether the bypass can be stopped this late in the game. It's not like it's a nuclear power plant or an old growth forest or something that can draw thousands of people in mass protest.

The best strategy might be to negotiate with the governor and the legislature to provide grants to mitigate both the economic and environmental impacts of the project. The question becomes, who will do that? The tree sitters? The Willits City Council? Publicity generated by the resistance to the bypass puts the bypass in the public eye, which may serve to forward some effort at mitigation, if the people of Willits can convince their elected representatives, Noreen Evans and Wes Chesbro, to carry water on this issue. But that will take a consensus that still needs to jell. Just some thoughts for your consideration.